Lux-Development

Senior Sector Advisor (SSA) in Local Development

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Last update: Mar 31, 2023 Last update: Mar 31, 2023

Details

Deadline: Apr 30, 2023 Deadline for applications has passed
Location: Laos Laos
Organization: Lux-Development
Job type:Contract, 12 months +
Languages:
EnglishEnglish
Work experience: Min 15 years
Date posted:Mar 31, 2023
Expected starting date:Jul 1, 2023

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Description

Senior Sector Advisor (SSA) in Local Development

Services Designation: Senior Sector Advisor (SSA) in Local Development for “LAO/038 Local Development Programme” 

Location: Vientiane, LAO PDR

Starting date: 01.07.2023

Duration: 24 months (renewable)

1. Background

The Lao and Luxembourg governments decided for the fifth Lao-Luxembourg Indicative Cooperation Programme (ICP V) to maintain and deepen collaboration nationally, but with emphasis on the provinces of Bokeo, Bolikhamxay, Khammouane and Vientiane, through following four sectoral programmes (2023-2027) with a total budget of approximately 100 million EUR, as follows:

·       Health and Nutrition (H&N) with a budget of 32,5 million EUR;

·       Local Development Programme (LDP) with a budget of 34 million EUR (including Swiss co-financing);

·       Skills for Tourism, Agriculture and Forestry (STAF) with a budget of 25 million EUR (including Swiss and EU co-financing);

·       Rule of Law, Access to Justice and Good Governance (ROLAG) with a budget of 9 million EUR.

Both governments also agreed to seek strong linkages between the four programmes to optimize synergy and impact.

The earmarked interventions will be interconnected through a common human capital development approach towards sustainable results. This will be the foundation of ICP V and key to contribute to eradicate extreme poverty and strengthen socio-economic inclusion in the target areas.

To achieve the expected outcome of the programme (“The well-being of Lao people is improved, leaving no one behind”), the Local Development Programme will build on the strong working relationships that have been established under its predecessor LAO/030 with the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and its line agencies within the four target provinces. It will continue to foster participatory planning (leaving no-one behind) and channel programme resources into realising priorities at the district and village level. Its focus on capacity development at national but primarily at sub-national levels will assist central, provincial, district and village authorities (as duty-bearers) to improve public services for the benefit of local communities (as rights-holders). By improving capacity at all levels and engaging in policy dialogue, LDP intends to mitigate some of the threats facing rural communities in Lao PDR, which include land tenure insecurity, deforestation and low education outcomes.   

The LDP will focus on the poorest villages and districts in the provinces of Bokeo, Vientiane, Bolikhamxay and Khammouane, but as compared to a previous phase, will expand operations to cover maximum 20 districts and 300 + villages.   

A Theory of Change (ToC) process was used to identify three intermediate changes (IC) with priority areas of intervention as follows: 

·       IC-A – Social-economic opportunities for sustainable livelihood are created for Lao people, leaving no one behind: will focus on creating productive farming opportunities (whether commercial or subsistence) for men and women. There are interventions in nutrition and health, land tenure security and climate change adaptation, inclusive finance with digital applications, cooperation with the private sector to improve market access and capacity development support for enhanced farming/business skills. Partnerships will be maintained with two Luxembourg based NGOs, being ADA (which specialises in inclusive finance) and Caritas (which specialised in community development) as well as locally based Non-profit Associations (NPA). 

·       IC-B – Lao people have access to improved and more resilient public services including infrastructure provided by district authorities: will introduce a District Annual Financing Window (DAFW), through which target districts (with provincial support and under provincial supervision) will receive a secure budget envelope based on a number of criteria including population size to implement prioritised actions in the key areas of education, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) and feeder roads in line with district development plans.   

·       IC-C – Lao people have access to improved and more resilient village-level services: will continue to support the participatory village development planning (VDP) process established under the predecessor project for identifying and prioritising village needs. This village plan will be supported with a village development fund (VDF) to meet community priorities in infrastructure rehabilitation/maintenance, credit and capacity development among others (there is a linkage here between IC-A and IC-C).

Regarding the national level, the LDP will closely work together with other bilateral and multilateral actors in the sector to ensure LuxDev interventions are harmonized, including in policy dialogue, practical collaboration and coordination.

2. OBJECTIVES

The SSA represents LuxDev with the implementation of the sectoral programme and ensures that all processes defined by the Agency are implemented in accordance with the Agency’s Quality Manual.

The SSA is the representative of the donor (first-level authority) for the execution of technical and financial commitments contributing to the programme.

The SSA will be fully responsible for all institutional, organisational, skills and technical matters dealing with her/his sectoral field of competence overall meaning nationally and be in very close contact with the provincial (operational) teams as per above schematic.

3. RESPONSIBILITIES

Implementation of the interventions

·       In general, support capacity strengthening at national and provincial levels;

·       oversee the well-functioning of all technical staff/sectoral advisors based in Vientiane capital and at provincial levels;

·       provide capacity development at the central level (Vientiane capital) to counterparts related to key central-level functions such as policymaking, sectoral coordination, monitoring, evaluation and learning including strategic support to the Luxembourg Embassy and LuxDev;

·       ensure correct implementation of the interventions in the provinces and at national partner organisations in Vientiane capital;

·       provide sector-specific, strategic and technical guidance to the province-based technical staff/sectoral advisors, while liaising closely with LuxDev’s international provincial coordinators who are overseeing provincial support teams in charge of day-to-day operations in all four sectoral programmes;

·       promote knowledge management and experience sharing between the provincial sectoral advisors, their counterparts and other stakeholders.

Specific tasks in close concert with LuxDev’s mutual/collective ICP V cross-cutting and administration and finance pools complementary to all four programmes:

·       Warrant that programme monitoring and evaluation is adequately implemented;

·       ensure that gender, rights-based approaches, climate change, D4D and capacity strengthening thematic areas are incorporated and perfectly addressed throughout the programme;

·       accompany the HR, administrative and financial management of the programme;

·       have a technical representation role in close concert with the Regional Office and the Luxembourg Embassy in Vientiane.

4. EXPERT PROFILE

·       Postgraduate degree in a field related to rural and local development;

·       minimum of 15 years’ work experience including five years in international development (private sector, embassies, university, multi-bilateral aid, NGOs, etc);

·       in-depth knowledge of the rural and local development sector in developing countries;

·       public finance management and/or fiscal decentralisation;

·       knowledge in some or all of following sub-sectoral areas: agriculture, forestry, rural engineering, rural and agricultural credit, inclusive micro-finance services;

·       previous work experience in Laos or Southeast Asia will be an advantage;

·       fluency in English language;

·       French, Lao or Thai language skills will be an advantage

How to apply:

Please apply via our website: https://careers.luxdev.lu/job-invite/1102/

Deadline: 30 April 2023